Thermal and visual remote sensing of residential buildings by UAV

This paper is aimed to define an innovative method to evaluate building envelope thermal performance over the time by infrared thermography. The remote sensing is carried out by infrared camera and digital camera. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is used for the sake of image acquisition. Firstly, flight and measurement protocols are defined to guarantee a correct detection and a new dimensionless parameter (β) is introduced to compare images taken in different time instants and environmental conditions. Successively, thermal and visible 3D models of the investigated building are analyzed, and a first draft of a 3D β-map is realized.